After the suicide of her gamester father, Sylvia Stafford stepped down from the peerage to a role as governess for a family in Cheapside. She'd had suitors, but they disappeared when Sylvia's father killed himself and left her destitute. She's made a new life for herself, and Sylvia is content. However, Lady Harker, who says she's sister to Colonel Sebastian Conrad arrives at Cheapside and upsets Sylvia's life. She asks that Sylvia come to visit her brother because she is worried he will do himself harm. Sebastian carries a lock of Sylvia's hair in his pocket.
Sylvia thought she and Sebastian had reached an understanding before he left for war in India three years earlier. However, Sebastian came home to be an earl (after the deaths of his brother and father), terribly disfigured. Now, he stays at home and growls and is a scholar. He refuses to see anyone. So, when his sister and Sylvia arrive, he's thunderstruck. Over time, they can discuss what happened. They each wrote letters. Sylvia never received any, and Sebastian said his letters returned unopened. Therefore, each party believed the worst about the other. This misunderstanding has been stewing for years.
The author handled the pitfalls of writing about a grouchy ex-military officer well (he had good reasons for being grouchy). In addition, the author turned even the secondary characters into breathing persons, particularly Mrs. Dinwitty. Overall score = 4.5 stars.
Sylvia thought she and Sebastian had reached an understanding before he left for war in India three years earlier. However, Sebastian came home to be an earl (after the deaths of his brother and father), terribly disfigured. Now, he stays at home and growls and is a scholar. He refuses to see anyone. So, when his sister and Sylvia arrive, he's thunderstruck. Over time, they can discuss what happened. They each wrote letters. Sylvia never received any, and Sebastian said his letters returned unopened. Therefore, each party believed the worst about the other. This misunderstanding has been stewing for years.
The author handled the pitfalls of writing about a grouchy ex-military officer well (he had good reasons for being grouchy). In addition, the author turned even the secondary characters into breathing persons, particularly Mrs. Dinwitty. Overall score = 4.5 stars.
It's entertaining and well enough written - but where it falls a bit short for me is that it is written at the young adult level (although it is not marketed as YA fiction). Tales of this sort for me require use of a more complex adult writing style.
